Finding the Perfect Present
by Jingle101
Summary: SpongeBob goes through lots of trouble to find the perfect present for Sandy. What happens when that "perfect present" may not be so "perfect" for a squirrel?
1. What should he get her?

"Man's best friend? Huh. Well Sandy isn't a man but maybe she would like one of these so called puppies anyway." SpongeBob was reading a book called _"The Perfect Presents"_. He so badly wanted to tell Sandy how he felt about her but it was just too hard. So his plan was to give her a great, exciting gift that would express his emotions. So far he had already crossed of chocolates and flowers. Chocolate was too boring and he gave her flowers all the time anyways. But these puppy creatures sounded interesting. He continued to read about them. _Puppies are one of the greatest presents you could give someone you love. These friendly little animals always seem to cheer you up no matter what kind of mood you're in._ SpongeBob thought about that part. Sometimes Sandy could get in a terrible mood very easily. It was almost scary sometimes, how the littlest thing could get her so angry. "Maybe this IS a good gift for her." He said, thinking out loud. He read on. _With the proper training, the right owner could get almost anything out of puppies. However, it is important that you pick the right type of dog for the person. To find out more about dog breeds, you should check out your local library for a book on dogs._ "I guess I'll go do that then." He got up off his coach and ran towards the door. He finally made it to the library. It took him about an hour to find a book called _"The Complete Dog Book". _He quickly flipped through all the pages till he found a bunch of pictures."Whoa, these things are the weirdest creatures I've ever seen!" He looked all the pictures and chose one that he liked the best. It was called a beagle. He quickly flipped through the description for the dog. It stated that they were friendly, loyal, and great companions. There was even a little section about squirrels! It said that they beagles were originally bred to hunt small creatures like squirrels and rabbits. "What in the world is hunting? It probably just means that they like squirrels as play mates or something. Oh well, this sounds perfect." He went to the library's computer and typed in beagle. Lots of little sites came up about buying them. He went through a couple of them until he found one for free. Since they were land creatures, he had to type in a land address to send it to. He quickly typed in the street right in front of the sea. This would mean he had to go onto land again. He shivered at the memory of those stupid sea gulls that attacked him. Luckily Sandy had been there to save them. _Oh well,_ he thought, _Sandy's worth it._


	2. The Arrival

It should arrive any moment now. He had waited for two weeks just like the website had said. He had been standing in the bushes trying not to be seen for about four hours now. It didn't matter though. When he sees Sandy's surprised face it would all be worth it. Or at least he hoped it would. She had asked him to come over that day for tea in the treedome and he had to decline. She had looked really disappointed and walked away in silence even when he had tried to apologize. It almost broke his heart although it made him laugh at how ironic the whole situation was. He had to say no to Sandy so he could go get a present… for Sandy! He was so deep in thought that he barely heard the truck approach. It stopped right outside the house SpongeBob had signed for. Once the man dropped off the package and drove away, SpongeBob ran up to the box. He read the label just to make sure it was his before lifting it up and running away so the humans wouldn't come out and see him. It was kind of heavy but he made it down to the beach in plenty of time. He quickly pried open the box and pulled out the cute, wiggly puppy. "You're perfect!" SpongeBob yelled. That just made the little puppy even more excited. He jumped out of his hands and started running laps around the beach. Once SpongeBob caught him he held the little dog down and put on the specially made air suit. The hyper beagle immediately started to try and chew on his new suit. "No puppy! Don't get holes in that!" He started to chase the puppy again. The beagle, thinking this way just a big game of tag, took off in the opposite direction. SpongeBob could tell this was going to be a long trip back.

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"This is terrible! I was finally gonna tell SpongeBob how I feel about him. Of course the one time it's important, he's too busy to come over!" Sandy was crying in her dome. She had never felt this way towards anyone before. Even Larry the Lobster couldn't hold her attention for long and according to some he was the best man in the whole sea. He obviously liked her. But she didn't care for him. She only wanted SpongeBob. Speaking of him, she could see the sponge running down the road towards his house. He was carrying a little bundle wrapped in a blanket. She couldn't tell what it was from here but it was definitely a handful. It was moving a lot and he was having a hard time keeping it under the blanket. She decided she would go help him out. Besides now she was extremely curious. Sandy slipped on her air suit and ran out the front door. She went over to where SpongeBob was struggling with the bundle. "Hey SpongeBob! Need some help with that?" she went to reach for the moving blanket but SpongeBob quickly turned his back towards her.

"No thanks Sandy. I just need to get this pu– I mean package home. See you later!" With that he took off running towards his pineapple house. Sandy just stood there with tears silently slipping sown her face. She normally wasn't the crying type but around SpongeBob, her emotions were always so uncontrollable.

"He doesn't even want to talk to me. Maybe he IS just busy." But deep down in Sandy's heart, she had this horrible feeling that SpongeBob wanted nothing to do with her. It was the worst thing she had ever felt. She silently walked back to her house and slumped down on the picnic table outside. Right as she started to relax there was a loud knock on her door. She jumped up to go answer it, hoping it might be SpongeBob. To her surprise, it was Larry.

"Hey Sandy? There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it Larry?" She asked sounding rather disappointed.

"Umm… Sandy, I think I love you."


	3. Rejection & Almost Discovered

She didn't know what to think. No one had ever told her they loved her, except for her parents but they didn't count. What was she supposed to do? "OK… well come on in Larry." He nodded his head and went to sit down on the big log bench in the middle of the dome. Sandy went inside to get the tea and cookies she had made for her and SpongeBob earlier. She sniffed when the thought about what she had been going to tell him while they were eating those came up. Grabbing the tray and pitcher she ran back outside to where Larry was sitting. He looked up at her and smiled.

"So how about going out with me Sandy? It's obvious that we would make a perfect couple. We're the best-looking and the toughest creatures in this whole ocean. Come on. I know you want to."

"Uh Larry… I don't really like you that way and I kind of have someone else in mind."

"It's SpongeBob isn't it? Everyone knows you two like each other. You would be an idiot not to, but he doesn't matter right now. It's just you and me." Sandy was a little embarrassed about the thing with everyone knowing her feelings towards SpongeBob but that wasn't why she was turning red.

"How dare you say SpongeBob isn't important! Of course he is. You just get your sorry tail out of here and don't come back!" Sandy was so angry right now that she didn't care what she was saying. She felt all fuzzy inside. It made her want to scream even more but by now Larry was already bolting out the door. Good riddance.

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He had seen everything. He was so angry at Larry right now but it made him happy when Sandy had yelled at him to get away. She still looked so upset though. He decided to go over and see what the problem was. He ran all the way down to Sandy's house and knocked on the door.

"Who is it!?" she called out in a very angry voice.

"It's me SpongeBob!" there was a moment of silence before Sandy went over and opened the door.

"Howdy SpongeBob, what are you doing here?" she didn't look as upset now but was still red in the cheeks.

"Well I kind of saw that thing with Larry and I wanted to know if you were all right." He was kind of embarrassed because that made him sound like he was spying. To his relief, Sandy didn't seem to notice.

"He asked me out! I mean what a jerk. Does he really think I like guys like him?"

"Guys like what?" SpongeBob asked quietly, almost to himself. He thought about several times when he had wanted to be like Larry. He was strong, brave, and very popular.

"Larry is so self-absorbed. He thinks that just because he's popular, everyone likes him and no one else matters. I can't believe he likes me. And expects me to like him too! What a…" She didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to either. SpongeBob could tell what she was about to say since he often felt that way too when he saw Larry flirting with Sandy. Suddenly there was a loud knock on the side of Sandy's glass dome. She was mumbling to herself and didn't hear it but SpongeBob quickly turned around and gasped. There was the puppy, trying to walk into Sandy's house. He didn't seem to understand the concept of see-through solids. It almost made him laugh when he realized whose house he was in. Sandy couldn't see the puppy yet. That would ruin the surprise.

"Uh Sandy, I would love to stay and talk but I need to go really bad."

"Well SpongeBob, there's a bathroom right inside my tree. You know that."

"No, I mean I have to go home. Bye!" with that he ran out the front door and took off behind a rock. He looked through a little hole to see if Sandy was still watching. She was. To his surprise she started to cry and ran into her tree house. It was so confusing. But he had to get the puppy while she was distracted. He ran to the side of her house that the pup was on and grabbed it. The beagle was so happy to see him again. It tried to lick him through its glass helmet but couldn't reach him. SpongeBob laughed. "Come on little guy let's get you home. Then I've got to call Sandy and invite her over. Just wait till she sees you!"


	4. Dinner Time Surprise

"Hello?"

"Hi Sandy!"

"Oh, hey SpongeBob." She wiped away a tear.

"I was wondering if you could come over tonight around six. Would that be ok?"

"Of course it would be. I'll see you later."

"Ok Sandy. See you tonight." They both hung up the phone. Sandy was feeling a little better now. So maybe he didn't want to stay away from her like she had feared. That was good. Tonight she would go over to his house and if everything went well, she was going to tell him the truth. Earlier, when he was over she had almost told him. She was just about to turn around and say: I don't like Larry, but I do like you SpongeBob. That was before he started acting all weird and ran away. She watched him go until a big rock got in the way and then she ran to her tree house, crying. She hated it when she was like this. She was always so emotional around SpongeBob. She was supposed to go over to his house in one hour. She decided to go ahead and get ready to go. She wanted to look good when she went over. That meant she needed a shower and makeup. That might take a while.

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He needed to hurry up and get ready. He still needed to find his best clothes, take a shower, cook dinner, and find a good place to put the puppy until he surprised Sandy with it. He started to get ready as fast as he could. He had a feeling he should have asked her to come at seven.

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An hour later Sandy knocked on his door. It opened almost immediately to a half dressed SpongeBob. She was glad it was cold outside so he wouldn't realize she was blushing. "Hi Sandy, come in." She nodded her head and walked inside. It smelled wonderful in his house. Obviously he had been cooking spaghetti for their dinner. She could see the table already set. "I'll be right back Sandy. I need to go get finished dressing. Make yourself at home." He ran back up his stairs. Sandy went and looked at the pictures on his wall. There were several of him, his parents, Patrick, and an oddly drawn picture of him on notebook paper. One stood out the most to her though. It was a picture of her and SpongeBob sitting together on a picnic blanket. They were both covered in food. She could remember it as if it were yesterday. SpongeBob had kept throwing little pieces of food at her and pretending it wasn't him by looking away when she turned around. Finally she had caught him in the act and threw her whole sandwich at him. That had started a huge food fight. It was one of her favorite days between them. She was so focused on the picture that she didn't hear SpongeBob coming back down the stairs.

"I love that picture." His sudden words made her jump.

"Oh, me too." She looked down at the sponge and realized how handsome he looked in his good clothes instead of his normal work clothes. She turned away again as she started to blush.

"I guess we should go eat now before the food gets cold."

"Ok." She watched as SpongeBob ran into the kitchen and started to pull out everything he needed. She went in and sat down. Before long the table was covered in food. She started making her plate and began to eat. SpongeBob was an excellent cook! She had never eaten anything he made before. It was delicious! He was watching her very closely. She started to blush again. He had realized how beautiful she looked with makeup on. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He knew he was making her nervous but he was in a trance. He couldn't help himself.

"Wow Sandy, you look really good tonight."

"Thanks SpongeBob. And you're a really good cook." They had finished eating and were trying at small talk. Neither of them were good at it and they sounded ridiculous.

"There's something I wanted to give you. I'll be right back." He got up and walked towards a closet in the living room. He pulled out a big box with a bow on it. "Here, Open it." Sandy smiled at him with a confused look before undoing pulling the top of the box off. From inside came a deep growl. She dropped the box as a small puppy jumped out and starting growling at her again.

"Get that dog away from me!" As she said this the little puppy lunged forwards, pushing her over into the table. She hit her hip and slid to the floor.

"SANDY!"


	5. He Finally Found The Perfect Present

Everything just went black for a second. All she could tell was that one moment she had hit the table and the next she was lying in her bed with a very worried-looking sponge leaning over her.

"Sandy are you ok?"

"What happened?" she wasn't completely back to herself yet.

"The puppy tried to attack you. But don't worry, I already took him back to the surface and found a home for him. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to give puppies to younger humans. I just pushed it out of the bushes we were hiding in and they grabbed him and took off."

"How long have I been asleep?" Sandy was finally starting to come to.

"It's been about two days, but don't you remember the time you woke up for a little bit?" SpongeBob almost hoped she hadn't. She had said a lot of stuff during the half hour she had been awake. He was sure none of it was true though. Sandy thought hard about it, trying to remember. Her mind started to play back the scene. She went red with embarrassment as she realized all the stuff she had said. Here's how it went: She was lying in bed with SpongeBob sitting on the very edge of it. She stared at him for a little while before speaking. _"SpongeBob,"_ She had said, _"I love you a lot."_ SpongeBob turned around and looked her in the eyes. He seemed to have realized that she was still half asleep.

"_I love you too Sandy."_ He told her.

"_SpongeBob? Will you marry me?"_

"_Of course Sandy, I'll do anything for you."_ He was just playing along with her but in his heart he knew what he was telling her was true. He just wished Sandy knew what she was saying. She told him she loved him again and fell back asleep. Then everything went black again. Sandy was red all over and didn't know what to say. SpongeBob probably thought she was an idiot. But then why had he played along? Why would he have said those things if he didn't mean them. He wasn't the sort of guy that would make fun of her when she was half asleep.

"SpongeBob, I love you a lot." He looked at her again, making sure she was actually awake.

"Umm… I love you too Sandy."

"SpongeBob? Will you kiss me?" He leaned over closer to her.

"Of course Sandy, I'll do anything for you." He took off his helmet and looked at her brown eyes. They both leaned towards each other and kissed passionately. Before he knew it, Sandy was on top of him, under the covers. Her eyes twinkled mischievously. There was nothing he could do to stop her; there was nothing he wanted to do either.

"SpongeBob, this is the most perfect present I've ever had."


End file.
